But the narrow victory and gains by the centrist Yesh Atid party[3] will make it more difficult for Netanyahu to freely choose his coalition partners.

The early results showed Likud and the hardline Yisrael Beitenu[4] lost up to ten seats in the Knesset, down from 42.

Yesh Atid, which was only established nine months ago and campaigned on economic issues, did surprisingly well, coming second place with 18-19, followed by Labour with 16-17 seats, and the ultra-right Jewish Home party trailing with just 12.